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ISO Quality Services October 2014 Newsletter

15 Oct, 2014

Welcome to the ISO Quality Services October 2014 Newsletter, we hope that you’re having a marvellous month!

Europe beating the USA to retain the Ryder Cup started the month in emphatic style but it has also been a month of worrying news stories. The rise of Ebola, not only in Africa but in the US and Europe has never left the headlines and on top of that, the severity of the situation in Syria and Iraq with regards to ISIS has also worsened. A little more close to home, the past month has also seen the first ever UKIP MP being elected in Clacton-on-Sea.

Tom Claridge of Johnson Fleming Group Limited (left) being presented with their certificate by our Senior Lead Assessor Peter O’Neill (right). Johnson Fleming Group Limited was certificated to the ISO 22301:2012 Business Continuity Management Standard.

Somac Threads Limited

A family-run business with nearly 30 years’ experience, Somac Threads Limited is based in Chester and delivers high quality products and service.

Penna Career Services

With a history spanning 40 years, Penna Career Services are ideally situated in Berkshire and have numerous offices throughout the UK.

On Monday 22nd September 2014, Penna Career Services were presented with their ISO 9001 Quality Management Certificate.

Penna is a global HR Services Group. Through effective services and unrivalled expertise, help organisations improve their performance through their people.

For more information regarding how they can help your business, call them on 020 7332 7777 or go to their website, http://www.penna.com/index

What businesses need to know about cybersecurity

The topic of cyber security has become ever more important in the past 12 months, both in terms of business and personal which illustrates the fact that businesses of all sizes need to be proactive in raising their cybersecurity.

Research by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills found that 64% of small business suffered a security breach in the past year and examples of which include websites being hacked, high levels of dangerous spam and loss of data, in particular customer data.

Protecting against attacks can be expensive, sometimes too expensive for smaller businesses but there are still things that can be done which most are currently not doing. Here are a few activities that it is advised that businesses should start doing.

Regularly check websites such as “Knowthenet” and “Cyber Streetwise” which may highlight new dangers before they affect your business.

Make sure your software and systems are up to date. For example, any browser and security software that you may have.

Ensuring that all employees understand the importance of being cyber aware is very important. There must be procedures in place so employees can report anything suspicious.

Control whether employees are allowed to connect to the businesses IT systems and/or Wi-Fi.

Be aware of people pretending to be customers in order to gain access to a customer’s account.

The implementation of processes and procedures to help tackle this growing threat is very important.

A method of doing just that is by implementing the ISO 27001 Information Security Management System.

For more information regarding what is involved in implementing such a system, feel free to visit our website here, or alternatively call the team on 01905 670 303.

7 tips for implementing an ISO or BS Standard

The implementation of such standards can appear daunting, especially when you are already extremely busy with other aspects of the business but it needn’t be so arduous. Here are 10 top tips that will be sure to make the process a lot easier:

Good communication throughout the whole of the business is a necessity. The more informed everyone is, the less resistant they will be to any proposed changes. It is always good to explain why the changes are important.

Commitment and support from senior management. This is important as senior have the power to make the process easier or more difficult if they are not fully on board.

Get feedback from customers with regards to which part of your service they may feel could be improved.

Map out and share roles, responsibilities and timescales. It is not ideal designating one person to carry out all the tasks for a number of reasons, one of which being including more people within the process will help get people on board and will be more effective.

Adapt the company’s core principles to align with the standard. For example, putting customer demands at the heart of what the company does.

Training and incentives for staff will ensure that everyone will know what is expected of them and hopefully feel more inclined to work with the standards.

Review the systems in place on a regular basis. Industries, as well as company practices require tweaking and adapting from time to time to keep up with demands and as such the different aspects of the standard must also be reviewed. Effective systems will ensure the company gets the most out of the processes and procedures involved.

This is support that providing you meet the requirements, your business is entitled to and can even be the difference between success and failure of some small businesses. Therefore, it is highly recommended that all companies explore and investigate what assistance is available to them.

Top 4 Document shredding myths

The BS EN 15713 Secure Destruction of Confidential Material is a small but incredibly undervalued standard.

There are a number of myths or misconceptions that surround this area and here we hope to dispel these.

MYTH ONE – Document shredding is only necessary for big companies. Identity theft can affect businesses of all sizes and the rules and regulations must be followed by all to ensure they are legally compliant.

MYTH TWO – Shredded paper cannot be recycled. Once shredded and compressed, the paper is ready to be recycled, this can either be carried out in-house or by outsourcing the activity.

MYTH THREE – Document shredding it time consuming. With an abundance of professional shredding companies it means that companies no longer need to undertake the removing of staples and shred 5 sheets of paper at a time!

MYTH FOUR – It is impossible to ensure data security when outsourcing. With the introduction of standards that companies can achieve to prove their credibility such as the BS EN 15713, it is possible to ensure that data is secure.

The introduction of the BS EN 15713 standard proves to your client base that you can be trusted with their personal information. On top of this, it is also an opportunity to stand out from the crowd by marketing the fact that you have achieved this internationally recognised standard.

If you would like to receive further information regarding this standard, or any other of the standards that we help implement and certificate, please contact us directly on 01905 670 303 or click here for the associated webpage.

Change in Data Protection Laws

Recently, changes to the EU data protection laws were given the green light by the European parliament and it is relevant to every business, no matter their size or industry.

The new legislation surrounds the use of digital technology and in particular data that is found online about an individual.

To be more specific, it will mean that any individual can request for information on them to be destroyed. Additionally, businesses must delete data held on a person once it is no longer required.

It is also strongly recommended that the procedures put in place for these activities are auditable.

All companies found to not be compliant face a severe fine that could be up to 5% of worldwide turnover.

‘Made in Britain’ has huge export value

Research carried out by Barclays Corporate Banking found that products branded as ‘Made in Britain’ are much sought after on the international market.

The report found that this was most evident in emerging markets as opposed to developed markets and what was more surprising is that it held more weight when compared to Made in England/Wales/Scotland.

Additional findings of the report include:

Goods from Scotland and Wales are seen as “Standing for tradition”, whereas products branded as English or British are seen to be “Internationally recognised”.

Calculating an average premium made by branding goods exports as Made in Britain shows gains from £22.8m in Ireland to £742m in China and £823m in the USA.

This interactive 2 day training course will teach you the tools and techniques of the internal auditor.

Learn how to conduct an effective audit and how to use this to achieve continual business process improvement and assist your staff in identifying any gaps that may challenge the effectiveness of your quality management system.

Principles of ISO

The role of the Management Representative

Brief overview on the management system to be audited

What is the purpose of an audit?

How should an audit be approached?

Maximise the benefits of monitoring that the procedures are regularly being controlled

Find and rectify negative trends, maximise positive trends

A practical auditing exercise is undertaken by the delegate on the business, which will be marked

Remember if you are a current client of ISO Quality Services you are entitled to a discount on all our courses…please contact us for more details.

Soon to be released……

We will soon be launching an ISO 27001 Information Security Training Course – this is currently in the planning stages and we are aiming to run the first course in January 2015. If you would like to register your interest – please contact us asap and be the first to know once the date is released!

We are a training provider who supports GrowthAccelerator.

GrowthAccelerator is where ambitious businesses go for new connections, new routes to investment and the new ideas and strategy they need to achieve their full potential.

Our role as a training provider is to help GrowthAccelerator clients develop their leadership and management teams, with match funding of up to £2,000 available per senior manager to undertake training recommended for their business.

We have a dedicated training website www.isotrainingservicesltd.com where all of our training information, courses and dates will be available, along with case studies, news articles and Meet the Trainer!

Please take the time to visit us!

We are also available on Twitter @TrainIsoqsl– so get following and tweeting!

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The speaker at this event will be Debbie Tunstall, Centre Manager for the National Cyber Skills Centre in Malvern. Debbie will give delegates an introduction to the new cyber skills centre in Malvern including details of support for SMEs. Facts and figures of potential security breaches, how and why businesses should prepare.

All members are invited to join us for a Maximise Your Membership Event in their first three months. This FREE event is sponsored by ISO Quality Services Ltd and offers members the opportunity to meet the Chamber team and find out some of the many ways to make the most of their membership. Attendees will hear from the Chamber membership team and Chief Executive as well as sponsors ISO Quality Services Ltd, about their experiences of membership and how they get maximum return from their investment. There will also be plenty of networking opportunities and tips for networking effectively.

All members are invited to join us for a Maximise Your Membership Event in their first three months. This FREE event is sponsored by ISO Quality Services Ltd and offers members the opportunity to meet the Chamber team and find out some of the many ways to make the most of their membership. Attendees will hear from the Chamber membership team and Chief Executive as well as sponsors ISO Quality Services Ltd, about their experiences of membership and how they get maximum return from their investment. There will also be plenty of networking opportunities and tips for networking effectively.

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